Chinese Government provides a RMB 20 million grant — via a 2006 ETCA — for the acquisition of a customs inspection system (Linked to Record ID#85300)

Project narrative

On April 11, 2006, the Chinese Government and the Government of Georgia signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), in which the Chinese Government committed RMB 20 million in grant funding to provide x-ray customs scanners (a customs inspection system) to the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. The ultimate purpose of the project was to help Georgia’s Revenue Service improve customs clearance efficiency and combat smuggling. On March 28, 2008, Nuctech Company Limited and Georgia's Ministry of Finance signed an equipment provision contract in Tbilisi. According to the agreement, the Government of Georgia agreed to use the proceeds from this grant and an interest-free loan from the Chinese Government (see linked Record ID#85300) to purchase a mobile container inspection system — a vehicle-mounted mobile container inspection system and 11 pieces of X-ray inspection equipment — to be used in Batumi from Nuctech Company Limited. Nuctech agreed to ship the equipment to Georgia before September 30, 2008, and assumed responsibility for its installation and commissioning. According to August 2018 email correspondence between Georgia’s Ministry of Finance and AidData, this project reached completion status on September 1, 2008. However, the official project handover ceremony was not held until February 13, 2009.